Krystall Jötunn
by frostbug
Summary: Kristoff once asked you if you believed in aliens. To be honest, you never gave it much thought. But with such a big universe out there you doubt you were alone. [Modern/alien AU. Elsanna (non-incest)]
1. Contact

**Author's notes:** Hey, everyone! After reading so many beautiful Elsanna fics I decided to write down some of my own ideas and while this isn't the first story I have written it is actually the first to have a full first chapter. Brainstorming can be hard.

Set in a modern AU. Non-incest (regrettably) but I will be posting other stories once they are better shaped. As for this story's rating I will leave it T for now and change it later if it gets more _intimate_, to put it simply. No warnings for now but I will put them up at the beginning of each new chapter if something happens in the story.

Fair warning, I have chronic laziness and I may take a while to update but for now I hope you enjoy!

EDIT: Whoops, forgot a disclaimer: I do not own Frozen nor any other character in this story.  
EDIT2: Changed the last sentence because it's been bothering me for ages.

* * *

Ever since Anna was a little girl she was in love with the stars.

On her nineteenth birthday her burly best friend gave her a telescope. Kristoff figured that working on a planetarium as a part-time job can do so much to a person, especially to Anna. The redhead wasn't all that fascinated with astronomy at first but after spending time learning about the stars and teaching first-graders from schools around Norway she quickly became infatuated with space. Maybe infatuated was a strong word, she thought. She just really liked the stars. And the kids loved her.

Her cousin was the reason she got the job. Much like herself, Rapunzel loved the stars. Ever since they were little kids they would stay up all night way past their bed time just to gaze up at the night sky when Rapunzel's parents thought they were asleep. It was some of their best memories together. When Anna's parents passed away in a tragic accident her aunt and uncle took her in and raised her as their own. The blonde was more like a sister than a cousin, they were inseparable and still are till this day.

When both decided to move in together for college Rapunzel got a part-time job at the local planetarium and Anna worked at a small coffee shop during her afternoons. The redhead's job was draining and the pay wasn't all that good, that was when her cousin mentioned the planetarium needed someone behind the projector.

The planetarium's manager, a tall lanky young man, not much older than her, told her she was the best thing that happened in that place for quite a long time. Anna brought life back to the planetarium, Jim (her manager) said. Both still remembered the day she came to apply for the job, hell, that was a hard time to forget. She was so nervous about her try-out, which was in that very day. Anna began by stuttering an awful lot but soon she grew confident and energetic as she rambled on about the various constellations to an almost empty projector room. Mr. Hawkins sat in the back and listened intently. Anna had such a vigorous spunk as she spoke and enunciated the various names of stars and planets that her manager had to stop her rambling because she had been speaking for over an hour without noticing. Over lunch she was hired. It was one of the best days of her life.

Now she could hardly believe it's been two years since she's been working on the planetarium, gazing at the projected stars in her favorite room of her work place. Every one at work loved her and were grateful for the good vibes the redhead brought with her. One of her colleagues, her cousin's boyfriend for that matter, once joked about taking down the sun from the center display and just put up Anna instead.

Sometimes when Anna was done with her afternoon shifts one of her colleagues, and now close friend, Kida, would sneak with the redhead into the giant telescope room where they would spend an eternity -or the amount of time sneaking around gave them- just looking at galaxies and planets through it and talking about how immense space was. Anna could tell the white-haired girl shared the same love for stars as the redhead. That's was kind of poetic, she thought, making friends through love for stars.

At the end of the day she would come home and climb up to her roof from the attic to look up at the bright starry night sky. It was probably her favorite part of the day. Granted, she loved the projection room but nothing beat the real deal.

It was on one of her days off that Kristoff decided to have an Alien marathon.

"I can't believe you've never watched any of the movies." He would complain.

At first, Anna was squeamish. Seeing John Hurt's brilliant performance was a classic that Anna's eyes were destined to see, or so Kristoff thought. The blonde was reward with an ear-piercing screech in said scene. He thought maybe it was a bad idea, until Anna started growing fond of the saga. On the second movie she was less scared and more excited. The third one was kind of boring and uncomfortable, the ending made her cry. The fourth, she decided, was the best.

"Waddya mean there's no more?" The redhead frowned at him and Kristoff would just shrug, mentioning other movies starring both xenomorphs and other fictional species like yautja. The next day, Anna bought the movies and watched them all. She had gained a thirst for fictional aliens she never thought she would have, all thanks to her best friend.

"What have I done?" Kristoff had joked, placing a hand on his forehead.

A few months later, he invited her to the movies to see Prometheus. She loved it and talked about it all week.

After her journey through fiction she then moved onto documentaries. This, combined with her fascination with space, was her downfall. Which was represented in the form of her grades. She regrettably paused her research (she could hear Kristoff snickering and calling her a nerd in the back of her mind) to do some actual school work. Her finals were coming soon and she had to focus (she could hear Kristoff again asking her if she wanted to fail this year).

She passed with perseverance and luck. But mostly luck.

* * *

It was during summer that Anna swore she found her very own meaning of life.

"I want to meet an alien."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do!" The redhead puffed her cheeks at him.

Kristoff chuckled and patted her head. "How do you know they wouldn't eat you alive, or skin you and hang your body upside down in a tree-" His words were cut off by a pillow in the face.

"Because there's something called variety, doofus!" Anna crossed her arms, sitting on her couch next to her best friend watching some now long forgotten series. Kristoff looked at her inquisitively.

The redhead sighed and dropped her arms on her lap.

"Just because they're from another world doesn't actually mean they want to eat you or kill you." She looked dead serious which earned a chuckle from the blonde, he in turn received a punch in the shoulder.

"I'm serious!"

"Okay, okay! Geez." He rubbed his slightly aching shoulder. "Alright, say they are friendly and 'come in peace' or whatever, what would you do?"

Anna only stared at him for a moment before her gaze fell down. Kristoff could see the gears turning inside her head. And they were kind of rusty.

"I- I really don't know. I guess I could say 'Hi' but I bet they wouldn't understand me and that would lead to trying to communicate with one another and failing miserably and that in turn would make them find out we're actually a really stupid species so they would fly back home and blow us all to smithereens!" Anna pressed her palms against her cheeks and slid them down her face with an anguished expression.

Kristoff snickered and raised his brows. "Possibly."

Another pillow hit his face.

* * *

Anna hated spending her days off alone. Kristoff was working until late and Rapunzel had a date. Not to mention her friends from work were busy too. She pondered the possibility of hanging out with her friends from school but she didn't like the idea of partying with them, which was all they basically did. Parties made her feel uncomfortable. The redhead groaned, this was going to be a long boring day.

"There's food in the fridge and some leftover pie." Rapunzel was just finishing up applying her makeup by Anna's vanity as the redhead played a video game.

"'Punz, I think I know how to take care of myself." Anna said, pausing her game and turning her head to look at the her.

"Hm-hmm." The blonde eyed her cousin's room. Clothes were thrown about everywhere, there was a messy pile of books by the window threatening to fall off and another identical one by her bed and, of course, Anna still had bed hair.

"What?"

Rapunzel only chuckled. "I'll be back late so don't wait up for me."

"Don't worry, it's not like I'm gonna fall asleep on the roof or anything."

"Like that hasn't happened before." Rapunzel rolled her eyes.

"That was one time!"

"Let's hope it's the last. Seriously, you could have rolled off the roof."

Anna pouted. "But I didn't." She said quietly.

"Yeah, because I was there to save your butt."

Anna crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at her cousin who returned the gesture. The blonde returned to the mirror and Anna to her game until Rapunzel spoke again.

"Alright, all done." She smiled at her reflection. "Okay, so make sure that your cellphone is on-"

"Done."

"Don't forget to eat-"

"I won't."

"And please don't starve poor Pascal."

"I promise."

When Anna didn't hear a response she looked at her cousin, whose arms were crossed and was giving her a look.

"I _promise_."

As if right on cue, Pascal popped up out of nowhere on Rapunzel shoulder and eyed Anna with her. Anna buried herself further in her bed before Pascal nodded and Rapunzel approached to set him down on the redhead's knee.

"Alright guys, behave." She kisses Anna on her head and picks up her purse.

"Have fun!" She said as the blonde exited the room.

"Will do!"

The house is quiet for a moment after Rapunzel left and Anna is left looking at their chameleon friend.

"Come on." She tells him, scratching under his chin gently. "Let's go get something to eat."

* * *

The rest of the day was uneventful. Anna managed to tame her wild mane, feed herself (and Pascal), tried to get a word from Kristoff who was working (who responded with a "I'm not dead yet."), replied to texts for her cousin telling her she didn't burn the house down and all that jazz.

It was when the sun finally set behind the mountains that she rose from the couch and ran up to the attic, Pascal on her shoulder hanging on for dear life. She picked up her telescope from the dusty bed and climbed up a small staircase to a window that led to the roof. Once sat with her telescope at ready she waited for the sky to turn darker until it was decorated with stars.

She stared in awe for a moment. Never once she got tired of this view and she highly doubted she ever would.

Her chameleon friend, wanting a better view, crawled up her telescope and sat there looking up. Anna shook her head, chuckling at him, but who could blame the poor guy, the sky was beautiful tonight.

Anna lost track of time easily when up on the roof, she didn't know what time it was or how long she'd been there. She almost dozed off a couple of times if it weren't for Pascal sticking his tongue in her ear. He seriously needed to stop doing that.

Rubbing the tired off her eyes (and the chameleon saliva from her ears) she gazed up and saw a single shooting star run across the sky.

"Make a wish, Pascal." She smiled, making one of her own.

Not a moment later, another shooting star followed after, except this one was slower. The redhead sat up, watching it curiously, cocking her head to the side. The star got brighter every passing moment. Anna peered through her telescope trying to pinpoint it, once she did it was too bright for her eye, making her pull back and look up at the sky.

That was no star.

And it was getting closer.

A shot of adrenaline burst through Anna's core as she quickly picked up her telescope and scrambled downstairs, a scared and confused Pascal clinging onto her shirt. She muttered an apology as she sat him down on her desk and tried to find a pair of pants in the small mountains of clothes on the floor of her bedroom. She found a pair and, surprisingly, didn't fall while putting them on.

"I'll be right back!" She told Pascal who only watched the redhead pick up the house keys and run outside.

Anna didn't know exactly what ran through her mind at the time. Well, she could think of a few things but it was running on pure adrenaline so her thought process was a jumbled mess. A quick glance at the sky told her the light was getting closer with each passing second. And bigger as well. She picked up her bicycle and rode towards where she thought the light might land.

The path led her straight to the woods.

_Of course._ She thought to herself.

In a split second, the light started to flicker and grew brighter until it vanished somewhere in front of Anna whose eyes had been shut and shielded by her arm to avoid the brightness. She expected there to be a crash, a sound, but there was nothing. She listened intently to the wind rustling the leaves of the trees as she rode deeper into the forest, the lights along the road long forgotten behind her.

For a moment, she wanted to give up on her silly quest, wondering if she was actually seeing things, until there was a crunching sound underneath her bike tires. She stopped and glanced down. The ground was brighter, almost white. Anna got off her bicycle and kneeled down, stroking along the surface with her fingers. It was cold to the touch.

"Snow?" She barely whispered, raising a brow. _But it's summer._

She left her bike behind her against a tree since riding in snow proved to be a difficult task.

_Yeah, unlike walking out in the woods at the dead of night._

As Anna walked through the dark forest with the moon barely lighting it she started to feel cold. Rubbing her arms helped, if only a little.

"What the hell am I doing?" She asked herself in a low voice as the snow started pilling up the more she walked. She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the sound of a twig snapping. She gasped and turned her head around slowly as it got quiet again.

"Calm down." She told herself, resuming her walk. "Everything's fine. Everything is f-"

The sound of an owl made her jumpy.

"It's just an owl. Just. An owl."

Another twig snapped.

"W-who's there?" Anna was visibly shaking now, both out of cold and fear.

"I-I don't wanna hurt you! I broke a guy's nose once!" She paused. "Well, accidentally but still!"

The only response she got was the wind blowing through the leaves.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and opened her eyes again. The spot where she stood was illuminated by the moonlight, giving her a clear view of her surroundings. What she found left her jaw open wide. Not only there was a ridiculous amount of snow by her feet but the trees were covered in it as well and the bark was frozen over, giving the trunk a shiny turquoise shield. She reached out intently to the closest one to feel it and it was gelid under her fingertips. When Anna pulled back she heard leaves rustling near her, frightening her and making her trip backwards into a snowbank with an undignified yelp.

The redhead got up quickly, berating herself. "Cold, cold, cold."

The same sound was heard again and she carefully approached the source, pushing the leaves of the tall bushes aside to step to the other side. A thin branch caught on her arm and scratched the inside of it, enough to leave a thin line of blood. She hissed and rubbed it as she pushed past the bushes. Unlike where she had been not a second ago there was a cold fog that surrounded the air around her, as she took a few steps it got thicker. It was then that she noticed what seemed to be snowflakes, only these looked like they were frozen in time, swimming ever so slightly in the air.

A crunching sound caught her ear and she took a few steps back, heart beating fast against her chest. The fog suddenly vanished in a gust of icy wind, leaving only falling snowflakes behind and a blurry figure before Anna.

She tripped again, falling on her back against soft snow and crawled backwards as the dark figure approached her. Her breathing quickened and she was shaking all over. The words _"This is it."_ ran through her mind over and over again. _This is how I die. Alone. In the woods._ She shut her eyes tightly, fighting back her tears and waited for the inevitable.

But it never came.

Tentatively, she opened one eye to see the figure kneeled before her. Even kneeled it still towered over Anna like a looming doom.

Like death.

With courage, she opened her other eye and raised her head, to look at it better. The figure didn't move except for the slight up and down movement of their torso, presumably breathing.

When the figure raised a hand, a pale hand, to their hood, Anna flinched. When they pulled it back, she gasped.

The last thing Anna sees are icy blue eyes piercing into hers before the world around her turned black.


	2. Greetings

**Author's notes:** I can't believe I stayed up until 5AM writing this. Elsanna will be my downfall.

EDIT: Added some missing details.

* * *

Images of snow and ice ran through Anna's mind as she tossed and turned in bed. She woke suddenly with a gasp, her shirt clinging to her chest in an uncomfortable sweat as she tried to slow her breathing pattern back to a normal pace. Wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead with her arm, she rested a hand over her eyes.

It all came rushing back to her at once. The light. The woods. The snow.

And those eyes. Those deadly, albeit gorgeous, eyes.

_Wait, what?_

She shook her head and sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "It was just a drea-" Peering down she saw two small puddles, one under each of her foot. Before she could get a closer look at the damp soles of her shoes her eye caught a little green ball on her lap. It was shaking.

"Pascal?" She lowered her head and stroked a finger along his back. "Hey, little guy. Are you okay? What's the matter?" She cooed.

The small chameleon opened one eye and looked up at Anna between his little fingers, he looked terrified.

"What's wron-" Before Anna could finish questioning Pascal's behavior there was a clanking noise that came from somewhere in the house. Anna's head shot up at the sound and Pascal released a tiny gasp, curling himself up further.

"Rapunzel?" Anna asked with her voice trembling. She then gasped and looked at her bed side table, scrambling to pick up her cellphone, almost dropping it in the process. She unlocked it (noticing the time, way too early to be up) and her eyes went wide. She had 12 missed calls from Rapunzel and 17 texts, only one of them came from Kristoff. _Gee, mother hen much? _Before she could go through them all she heard another noise, this time louder.

She swallowed down her rapid beating heart and slowly rose from her bed, leaving the small chameleon curled up on it, and almost slid to the floor due to her wet shoes. She took them off, remaining in her socks, and tiptoed her way towards the open door of her bedroom. Her reflection in the vanity's mirror caught her eye. Looking at the mirror, Anna noticed she was wearing the same thing she wore the prior night. She saw blue eyes staring back at her. _"Calm down." _She whispered to herself, taking deep breaths as she approached the doorway, peering outside at the small hallway. The house was silent again for a moment before she heard a sound similar to the rustling of papers.

_Rapunzel's study._ Anna thought. And this gave her an idea. Gaining some courage, she tiptoed out of her bedroom into the kitchen, almost knocking a lamp over on her way there. Seeing that the kitchen was vacated she quickly retrieved one of the frying pans hanging above the stove.

_What did Rapunzel say again? A frying pan is a girl's best friend._

Anna nodded at her reflection in the frying pan with a new determination before she gasped again, raising the pan above her head with both hands, when she heard more noise. She gulped audibly. With shaky legs she walked slowly towards Rapunzel's work place. In her cousin's study there many canvases, more painted ones rather than a blank few. Cups of brushes of many sizes were present in almost every nook and cranny of the room along with bottles of various paint. What didn't fit into this picture was a dark cloaked figure rummaging through her cousin's art supplies.

The redhead quickly glued her back onto the wall beside the doorway, taking deep breaths.

_It wasn't a dream. Oh god, it wasn't a dream._

She glanced into the room again, the figure had its back turned to Anna, which gave her the advantage. She took a deep breath. And another one. On the third one she took a step inside. With each step she took she raised her frying pan a bit higher until she was in the perfect spot, holding both her breath in and the frying pan above her head. Anna swore she saw the figure's head raise and move to the side before her own body decided to act, slamming the frying pan down on their head.

There was a loud crack and Anna's hands trembled. When she finally opened her eyes (when had she closed them?) she noticed a couple of things. First, the frying pan was vibrating in her hands, stopping after a few seconds. The second thing she noticed was that there was a slightly cracked thick surface of ice covering most of the figure's head. Anna stared with wide eyes as the ice started to crack more until it broke, fading into small particles of ice, all while the figure stood up. Stepping backwards, Anna raised her frying pan again, ready to defend herself.

The figure turned around slowly. With daylight peering through the window of the room Anna could see most of their face. Though hidden by their hood, she saw a jaw, perfectly cut, and a pale hand, holding their cloak in place. She could see pale skin glowing under the sunlight. A round pink nose. And a pair of captivating pink lips.

And they were tall. Very tall. Standing a head taller than Anna.

The redhead could only stare at those features in a mix of fear and astonishment.

Another pale hand showed itself, rising towards Anna. In a moment of reflex her body acted on its own and the pan came flying down towards the figure, eyes screwed shut.

The pale hand caught her wrist. It was cold to the touch and Anna exhaled sharply, opening her eyes just in time to see the figure removing their hood.

Icy blue eyes met hers once more. The pan hit the ground loudly as both stood their ground.

Anna's breath quickened as she took in the sight before her. Much like herself, they had a face. A normal one. And a really gorgeous one for that matter. She gazed at the missing features once covered by their hood. Platinum blond hair was tucked into their cloak, long bangs framing their face. Cheeks dusted in a slight pink with barely noticeable freckles and dark eyebrows that rose slightly while gazing back at Anna. Long black eyelashes that decorated the purest of blue eyes.

She didn't know how long she had been staring at their eyes but the more she did the more she noticed an odd pattern around their iris. Her thoughts were interrupted by an odd feeling taking over her body. All of the previous fear she felt was gone only to be replaced with a pleasant calmness. Her heartbeat slowed but still beat hard against her rib cage.

After what seemed like an eternity, their blue eyes shifted to Anna's wrist, still held in place by the cold pale hand. Their gaze went lower to the cut Anna gained whilst venturing through the woods. The grip on Anna's wrist loosened, holding it gently now as their other hand held Anna's arm out. Long pale fingers stroked the length of her arm, sending a shiver down Anna's spine. The touch was cold yet pleasant all together. When their fingers reached the cut on her arm, a pale index finger stroked along it and Anna could hardly believe what she witnessed. Their fingernails started to glow in a light blue and their finger left a line of frost along her cut. Anna stared in disbelief with her jaw hung open even when their pale hands finally let her arm go, one of them clutching the cloak again, shrugging it back into place.

Their eyes met once more and this time those blue eyes didn't seem threatening nor scary but warm instead, a deep azure adorning them. A small smile joined in.

Anna couldn't help but smile back before losing her consciousness.

* * *

The redhead woke up to two different sounds. One was a playful snarl she recognized all too well while the other was unknown to her yet was incredibly soothing. A light low laugh that made her heart flutter and her stomach do a pirouette. She opened her eyes slowly, adjusting to the light of her room. Blinking a few times, her gaze fell upon the person she had encountered in the woods. Now that she thought about it, were they even a person? Sure they looked human, like a young woman even, but she just wasn't sure about anything anymore.

It seemed they haven't noticed Anna was awake yet and the redhead took this opportunity to study them, feeling tingly inside when another small laugh escaped their throat. It was then that she noticed Pascal rubbing his back and tail across their neck, like a cat, and he only ever did that with Rapunzel. He was never that affectionate with Anna and much less with anyone that visited their home. Anna felt a little jealous.

Deciding it was about time her visitor and Pascal ended their love fest, she sat up in bed slowly, prompting Pascal to freeze in place and blue eyes meet hers. The little chameleon crawled down their dark blue cloak and climbed up Anna's leg, sitting on her knee with a smile on his face. Anna looked at him and then at the tall blonde that sat on a chair by her bed, returning the gaze.

"Oookay." She finally said. "You're real."

She looked down at Pascal and he nodded, grin still on his face.

Her lips formed a thin line as an idea struck her brain. She pinched herself in the arm and flinched.

"Ow. Okay, not a dream." She laughed nervously. Pascal shook his head.

Anna looked back at the figure who seemed a little distressed at the redhead's act of self-harm. They looked adorable. _Wait, what? _Shaking her head and rubbing her temples she took a deep breath and rested her back against her pillows. She glanced at her guest (could she even call them that, considering everything that happened?) and noticed they were still looking at her.

Hesitantly, she spoke. "Can you... understand me?"

Their head tilted ever so slightly to the side.

Anna sighed. "Of course you can't. You're from another planet even though you look so... human." She stared at them again. They stared back.

She groaned into her hands. "This sucks. I mean, it's awesome!" She raised her head again waving her hands before dropping her head back down. "But it sucks." She muttered.

Feeling her bed shift, the redhead lifted her head to see the blonde's figure closer to her. She gasped at how close they were and leaned back almost hitting her head on the wall behind her. Anna found herself lost in their eyes again. They were beautiful, she thought. Her gaze lowered, meeting a pale shoulder.

"Oh." Her cheeks reddened, realizing their cloak was probably the only thing covering the blonde's body. "Umm." She cleared her throat. "I- Uh. I can get you some clothes. If you want. I mean, you're probably cold. Well, at least your hands were, heh. Wait, you don't even know what I'm saying." She ceased her rambling. "And now you probably think I'm stupid."

The blonde quirked their lips slightly and leaned closer to Anna, whose face felt warmer by the proximity of their faces. Cold hands cupped Anna's freckled cheeks, the contact soothed her in more ways than one but it wasn't enough to drown the rapid beating of her heart as the blonde's forehead bumped gently against hers.

She gasped loudly, feeling the swell of something inside her. Anna felt like she was soaring through the air, free. She felt her body wrap itself around something warm and being wrapped in it, her mind joining with another and hearing the low hum of a voice in the back of her head. She let out a breath she was holding when the feeling became steady.

She could feel everything at once. Her own emotions and someone else's. Their feelings. _Her feelings._

All too soon, the connection was dropped and a small whine escaped Anna's throat. She opened her eyes slowly to see the blonde looking down at her.

"Wow."

The tall woman grinned widely.

* * *

There was an awkward moment between her and her galactic guest (like the rest of their moments weren't awkward enough) where upon noticing the blonde's state of undress, and her dry muddy feet, Anna suggested a shower. For a moment, the redhead thought she wouldn't get a word of what Anna was saying but the blonde proved her wrong. By simply bringing a cold hand to Anna's shoulder, leaving the redhead gasping with that familiar sensation, the taller girl suddenly knew how everything worked. When she dropped her cloak to the bathroom floor, her back turned to her host, Anna's freckles vanished behind the redness of her face and stuttered her way out of the bathroom.

She left the blonde to her privacy and rubbed her burning face, peeking through her fingers to see Pascal smirking at her.

Anna glared at him before letting the little reptile crawl up her arm to sit down on her shoulder as they made their way to her bedroom. She sat down on her bed and rubbed her eyes, mind going through everything that happened in the past few hours. Hours, she thought, glancing at her cellphone.

_Rapunzel._

Picking up her cellphone quickly she went through her messages. After the third text her cousin started to sound more desperate, on the eighth one Rapunzel claimed that she shouldn't be worrying because Anna was a grown adult and that she could actually take care of herself. Anna beamed before reading the rest of them, her cousin quickly denied everything she just said with panic written all over it. Typical Rapunzel. Anna shook her head and decided calling her was the best option she had. She hesitated before pressing the call button. What should she tell her?

_Oh hey, 'Punz. Yeah, everything's cool. I just met an alien in the woods and now they're taking a shower at our place, how crazy is that?_

She groaned, lowering her head and rubbing her nose bridge. Upon hearing a light crack on the other end of the call she opened her mouth to greet her cousin but she was met with a recording of Rapunzel's voice.

_Huh, her battery must've died. Considering all those texts and calls._

Anna thought about leaving a message but decided against it. She needed to work up a plan. And fast. Rapunzel could be here any minute. She whined, sliding her hands down her cheeks.

The sound of the shower in the background stopped, replacing her distress with new thoughts.

_I hope the clothes fit her._

Her mind then wandered to what she had witnessed in the bathroom and her face burned. _Oh god, she's gorgeous._ She threw herself on the bed and covered her face. Pascal shook his head and rolled his eyes at the display. Anna quickly sat up.

_Wow, no. She's an alien. An alien. That's just weird._

There was a pause in her head.

_Is it weird?_

Shaking her head to rid of her thoughts she walked towards the kitchen, her stomach aching slightly from the lack of food. On her way there she almost collided with the blonde that emerged from the steaming bathroom. Anna's first thought would have been about how Rapunzel would kill her if she had spent a lot of hot water but instead her jaw dropped.

_"Wow."_

The blonde turned her head to look at Anna. She was dressed in one of Anna's pair of shorts that reached just above her knees, giving the redhead a view of her pale creamy legs and feet. She wore one of Rapunzel's dark tees due to most of Anna's clothes either being too small or too dirty (and smelly; one of the rare things she had in common with Kristoff). Her wavy platinum blond hair cascaded down her back, past the curve of her -Anna swallowed nervously- behind, reaching just above her knees. Looking back up at her face, Anna noticed the blonde's bangs did not frame her face anymore but were brushed back in place instead, giving her a wild look.

"You look..." _Think, Anna. _"Different." _Nailed it._

"I-It's a good different."

She smiled at Anna, who kept staring at her. How the blonde managed to do that with her hair the redhead had no idea, although she noticed something sparkling in her blond hair. But before she could attest to that the sound of a lock turning made her jump. She took a few steps towards the door, suddenly turning her head around to look back at the blonde who had an expression she'd seen before. That predator like look that sent a cold chill down Anna's spine.

Anna was swiftly greeted with a tackle.

"Anna! Are you okay? I was so worried!" Rapunzel, who had just arrived home, crushed her cousin in a hug before pulling back and glaring at her. "Why didn't you return my calls or texts? Did something ha-" Her gaze left Anna's to look behind her cousin. A small whimper escaped the redhead's throat.

"Who's this?" Rapunzel raised a brow, looking back and forth at the girl standing barefoot in the hallway and her nervous looking cousin.

Anna pulled back, the gears in her head going full speed.

"Uh."

_No time for "Uh's", Anna. You're gonna have to do better than that._

"This is a... friend. From school." She mentally high-fived herself.

Rapunzel raised her brows. "Oh. You invited a friend to stay over? Why didn't you tell me?" Before Anna could speak, her cousin beat her to it. "You know what, I don't mind at all. I'm happy you did it."

"Umm, you are?" She looked up at the blonde, confused.

"Of course I am!" Rapunzel beamed. "That means she watched over you while I was away so I worried over nothing." She gestured with an open hand, emphasizing her words.

Anna groaned. "I don't need a babysitter."

"I didn't say you did."

"You implied." She glared at Rapunzel.

Her cousin approached her guest before Anna could process what was about to unfold.

"I'm sorry if she gave you any trouble. I'm her cousin, Rapunzel. And you are?" She smiled at the taller blonde, who looked down at Anna for a moment. Their eyes locked and Anna felt cold fingers pressing against her back. Holding in her gasp, she turned her head towards her cousin.

"Elsa!" Anna blurted.

Rapunzel raised her brows at her cousin's sudden outburst. The redhead looked back up at the tall girl who smiled at her, pulling back her fingers slowly.

"Her name is Elsa."


	3. Scintilla

**Author's notes:** Sorry I took a while, guys! I had to re-write this chapter like 3 times, not even kidding. It was a nightmare.

* * *

"Is that my shirt?"

The question alone made Anna want to disappear from her spot. In a split second she came up with another lie.

"Coffee accident." She frowned, hoping Rapunzel didn't question her further.

Anna hated lying, it was one of the few things she hated in life, but considering the circumstances she had no alternative. It's not like she could just tell her cousin her "school friend" was actually an alien that landed from the sky and was now wearing their clothes and, you know, breathing.

"Oh." Rapunzel understood Anna's predicament (her fake one at least) and chuckled. "Well, that's alright." She looked up at the tall girl. "I hope she didn't burn you or anything."

"No, no, no! She's- she's fine. Really." Anna laughed nervously, waving her hands.

Silence fell over the hallway before Rapunzel started.

"Well." She cleared her throat. "Have you guys had breakfast yet?"

Anna opened her mouth to answer her cousin but her stomach beat her to it. Her cheeks turned red but not enough to engulf her freckles, her cousin snickered. "Come on, I'll fix up something for you guys."

"You don't have to, really. I can handle it." Anna bit her lip nervously.

"Nonsense, we have a guest. And let's not forget the last time you used the stove." Rapunzel walked towards her bedroom to put her purse away, greeting her chameleon friend.

"That was an accident!" Anna exclaimed. "And I wasn't even planning on using it." She muttered next.

"Or the blender catastrophe!" Her cousin said loudly from her room.

Anna groaned, remembering her failed attempt to make a banana and strawberry smoothie. At least the kitchen smelled sweet for two weeks. Erasing her thoughts from her mind she looked up at the tall blonde.

Elsa.

How did she know her name? And how was she so positive that was her name?

Her cousin emerged from her room, interrupting Anna's thoughts. A happy Pascal sat on her shoulder, having his chin scratched. "Aww, you missed me, didn't you, Pascal?" The little chameleon makes a happy snarling noise eliciting a chuckle from Rapunzel. She approached her cousin and Elsa.

"I hope you like reptiles. Pascal isn't very fond of guests, he's not used to being around other people but he's actually a sweetheart." Rapunzel lets the little chameleon crawl into her palm as she holds him up between herself and the other blonde.

"Say hi, Pascal." She nods at him.

"Believe me, they've done more than that." Anna mutters, rolling her eyes.

The shorter blonde lifted her brow questioningly at Anna and was surprised when Pascal squeaked in delight, wagging his curled tail at Elsa as she scratched under his chin. He snarled in a playful manner, loving the attention.

Rapunzel stared at them in disbelief, Anna merely shook her head.

_See what I mean?_

* * *

The redhead couldn't stop her fidgeting at the table while Elsa -thinking of her name was still so odd to Anna- remained calm, seated by Anna's left with an elegant posture.

Question upon question started to race through Anna's mind. _What did she eat? What if she doesn't like the food? Does she even _eat _at all? What if she has a bad reaction? Oh god, what if she chokes on her food? I don't know how to do the heimlich maneuver! Wait, Rapunzel knows. But what if she _dies_? Oh god._

"So, Elsa. What would you like to eat?" Rapunzel asked, making some coffee.

Turning her head towards Elsa, Anna noticed the blonde's nostrils flare slightly.

_God, that's cute._

A cold hand grasped hers on the table and Anna felt it again. A link started to form in her mind and if she were to be honest, she was kind of getting used to it. When the feeling became stable she felt an aching in her stomach, hunger, but not her own.

_You're hungry. _She looked up at Elsa, blue eyes looking back at her intently.

Another feeling washed over the previous, it took her a while to identify it.

_But... you refuse to eat. Why?_ Inquisitive teal eyes stared into blue ones, searching for an answer. A sharp sensation in Anna's abdomen made its way through the connection before Elsa pulled her hand back abruptly.

"Elsa?" Rapunzel called, looking at both girls. Anna snapped her head at her cousin while Elsa's eyes fixed on her slightly sweaty hands, clenched into fists on the table.

Still shaking slightly from the extraterrestrial experience Anna cleared her throat, unscrambling her thoughts.

"She's... she's not very hungry right now. Maybe later." She smiled the best she could despite the feeling of uneasiness that sat in her stomach.

Rapunzel leered at the redhead, feeling something was going on, making Anna grow more nervous under her stare. To Anna's surprise, the blonde quickly dropped the act.

"Well, alright." She turned back around, retrieving some food from the fridge.

Anna looked back at Elsa. Her elegant posture was gone. She was hunched with her elbows over the table, white knuckles adorned her fists as she took deep quiet breaths.

"Hey, are you feeling alrigh-" As her hand raised to comfort Elsa, the blonde recoiled.

And there they were, icy blue eyes full of fear.

Anna could only stare into them, pulling back her hand against her chest.

"Everything okay?" For a moment they had forgotten Rapunzel was still in the room with them. She sat down at one of the ends of the table, closer to Anna, setting down hers and Anna's meal.

"Y-yeah, yeah. Everything's fine." Anna said, looking back down at her meal. "Right, Elsa?" When she looked back up at Elsa, her graceful posture had returned, eyes a deep azure with no hint of fright. She nodded at Anna.

There was a moment of silence in which Elsa found herself looking around the kitchen. She didn't miss Anna's gaze upon her.

"So." Rapunzel began, breaking the silence. Elsa turned her eyes towards her. "I've never seen you around campus before. What're you majoring on?"

Beads of sweat started to form on Anna's forehead as she looked over at Elsa, getting a glimpse of a pale hand sliding from her lap, reaching for Anna's tanned one under the table. Anna met her halfway.

There was a slight pause as Anna's brain traveled for miles in less than a second.

"Architecture." Anna said, Elsa's cold hand leaving hers. "She's uh, a transfer student."

Rapunzel lifted a brow. The redhead could tell her cousin was growing skeptical about all of this. Elsa hasn't spoken a word to either of them. Anna knew however that she did in fact have a voice. The memory of Elsa's laugh brought a tingling sensation to her stomach. Her laugh was beautiful. She wondered if Elsa would ever speak.

"Oh." Came Rapunzel's response, now understanding, more or less, the lack of communication between herself and her guest. "Where're you from? If you don't mind my asking." She smiled at Elsa sweetly.

"Uhh." _You need to stop doing that. Now make up something quick._

"Iceland."

"Wow, that's far away."

"Yeah." Anna laughed nervously and reprimanded herself internally for lying again. "She can understand us but umm, her Norwegian is still a little rusty and she's kinda shy about it so yeah, heh." She looked at Elsa for some sort of approval, receiving nothing but a stare.

"Do you have family here?"

What Anna witnessed next made her heart sink. Elsa's calm expression disappeared only to be replaced by a deep frown, her pale hands on her lap were clenched into fists, white knuckles threatening to burst under the skin of her hands. Her eyes were downcast, they were the saddest thing Anna had ever seen.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Rapunzel covered her mouth. "I-I didn't mean to..." She quieted down, lowering her head.

Anna watched as Elsa shut her eyes, letting out a long sigh before looking up at Rapunzel with a sad smile on her face.

For once Anna didn't have to cover up for Elsa, yet she didn't feel good about it either.

There was an uncomfortable silence as they ate. That was when Rapunzel started to notice Elsa more. Anna, seeing this, became tense. She saw how her cousin didn't stare for too long, only stealing glances at their guest, as if she was corroborating some belief hidden behind her skull. Then she realized where Rapunzel was looking.

Elsa's eyes.

In a fit of distress Anna blurted out words, crumbs from the pie she was eating spitting out of her mouth.

"So! How was your date?" She bit her lip, seeing Rapunzel's eyes avert from Elsa. It had worked.

The kitchen became more lively as Anna and Rapunzel started to talk about the blonde's date. While exchanging words back at forth Elsa watched the two intently, animated as they were. The banter filling her ears.

Rapunzel commented on how much of a gentleman Eugene was. Anna rolled her eyes, hardly believing Flynn (everyone at work called him by that nickname for some reason) took her cousin on a boat ride in the park. Rapunzel's cheeks turned pink at the thought as the redhead called her beau a hopeless romantic. Flynn was a sweet guy, Anna thought, teasing at times but sweet nonetheless. He and Rapunzel made a clever match.

"Soooo." Rapunzel started again. "Since the lantern festival is coming up, he invited me and some friends to his lake house for a week to watch the lanterns! You wanna come?" The blonde practically jumped in her seat, looking at Anna with big pleading green eyes.

Anna opened her mouth, releasing a small sound. Of course she wanted to go. _A lake house? Are you kidding me? That's the best thing ever._ She turned her head to see Elsa, who returned her gaze. Anna shut her eyes, sighing.

"I think I'll pass." She managed, looking at her cousin with sad eyes and a sheepish smile.

"What? Why not?" Rapunzel frowned at her.

"Um." _Think. Think. Think. _"Well, since Elsa is new around here, I thought, y'know, I'd show her around and stuff." She bit her lip.

"The lantern festival is a must see though! Would you like to come with us, Elsa? I'm sure there's room for one more!"

Both of them looked at Elsa. The blonde turned her gaze down, raising an elegant brow, pondering the question.

"Well, I mean, there's no rush. We still have a few days before we head down." Rapunzel shrugged.

"So you're actually going?" Anna asked.

"Of course I am! I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

Anna mentally slapped herself. _My feelings exactly._

"Marcy's gonna be there." Rapunzel air-guitared, biting her lip to accentuate the cool pose.

"Oh maaaan." Anna whined. She loved seeing Marcy play.

She couldn't just leave Elsa alone though. Not to mention taking her to a foreign (or more foreign, she supposed) environment might cause terrible things to happen (Anna didn't know what things exactly but she didn't want to risk anything happening regardless), even though the blonde acted like a normal human being. More or less. Glancing over at Elsa she noticed that the tall girl was frowning, her cheeks were redder and something about her breathing pattern wasn't right.

"So are you coming?" Rapunzel asked.

"Oh, umm. I think I'll stick with showing Elsa around and... maybe we can show up later during the festival? If Elsa wants to that is."

Elsa looked at the redhead, her previous worrisome behavior vanished and she smiled, making Anna's stomach do a flip. Elsa nodded.

"Cool then!" Rapunzel beamed and looked down at the watch on her wrist. "Oh damn, I'm gonna be late for my shift!" She got up, scrambling to her room. "Do you work today, Anna?" She called from the other room. The redhead looked up at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall.

"Yeah, but not in like a few hours." _Well, that's a relief._

Rapunzel came out wearing a new set of clothes, her work shirt was a tad big on her but it made the blonde look adorable. "Okay well, I'll see you later then." She kissed Anna on the head. _C'mon, we have a guest, geez._

"It was really nice meeting you, Elsa. Stop by the planetarium if you have the time!" She waved at the blonde who returned the gesture with a simple nod before Rapunzel went out the front door.

There was a moment of silence before Anna met Elsa's eyes. Finally, she let her torso rest over the table.

"Oh my god, that was so close!" Anna said, her words muffled by the table.

After a small pause she began laughing, Elsa tilted her head curiously at the girl. Anna pulled back still giggling. Despite the tense moments this whole situation was comedy worthy, she thought. Looking back into blue eyes they stayed there, sharing a moment.

_Now what?_

As soft deep azure eyes gazed into hers, the redhead started to gaze at Elsa's iris again. At first glance they seemed like any normal pair of eyes but if you looked closely you could see a symmetrical pattern surrounding the pupils. Both eyes formed the same identical image, one being the other's twin. The lines forming said pattern were a lighter blue that ran across both iris diagonally and vertically. The image it formed was all too familiar to Anna, she had seen it many times in her life, and although it was small, she had seen quite a few of them the night she met Elsa.

_Snowflakes._

More images followed Anna's train of thought. She had seen the same pattern, in a bigger scale, the last time Elsa touched her hand. That led to the biggest question of them all.

How did Elsa do that?

Not only did she have magical ice abilities but she could also share information through touch? That was just crazy. It sounded like something out of a Steven Spielberg movie. And how had she gotten back home? Did Elsa carry her? _Oh crud, my bike._ Now it was probably lost in the woods. Great, that was her favorite bicycle (her only one too). And just what was she doing in Rapunzel's study? She reminded herself to clean that up later.

Elsa lowered her gaze down at Anna's hand. The redhead followed Elsa's line of sight and shivered when the blonde held her hand, turning it over, palm facing up. This time there was no link, no flying through the air nor any exchange of information, only the feeling of a cold hand on her own. Slightly confused, Anna released a small breath as Elsa's fingertips slid down her open palm to the wound on her forearm except something was amiss.

The cut was gone.

Anna's eyes went wide as she held her arm up and touched where her previous wound had been, the skin was clean and had no signs or ever being damaged. She stared at Elsa in disbelief as the tall woman grinned at her, albeit it was a weak smile. Elsa's cheeks were red again, her blue eyes were hooded. She panted, leaning slightly on the table.

"Hey, are you okay?" Anna panicked, raising her hands up hesitantly to help Elsa. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a pale hand move, grasping her cousin's borrowed shirt.

_Oh, no._

Her hands floated above Elsa's hunched figure, not knowing what to do.

"E-Elsa, what's wrong?" Her voice was high pitched, desperate.

Then it hit her.

In a swift movement Anna grabbed Elsa's hand, ignoring the blonde's light gasp as a surge flowed through her mind, hitting her core. She felt a growing pain in her abdomen, similar to the one she felt in an earlier connection, making her gasp. Images flashed rapidly through her mind, they were filled with screams and all kinds of negative emotions. Anna felt each and every one of them. Depression, confinement, anger, pain, all swirling inside Anna's head and running through her veins, spreading throughout her body like wildfire. A twitching movement in her stomach along with a piercing pain was the last thing she felt before Elsa pulled her hand away.

Anna gasped, breathing heavily and shaking as she clutched her stomach, recovering from everything she had experienced in the last few seconds.

She looked up, peering into scared icy blue eyes.

"What..." She swallowed, her throat felt dry. She spoke through ragged breaths.

_"What the hell is inside of you?"_


	4. Interstice

**Author's notes:** Hello, dear readers. I bring you an update along with a **trigger** **warning!**

**There is a depiction of _mild gore_ in this chapter** (also changing the rating due to it) so if you don't like it or are triggered by it, do not read! It may seem a bit sudden but it's crucial for the sake of the story. And don't worry, Elsa will be fine.

This chapter is also a bit shorter than the rest but I will try to write more in the following ones.

* * *

Anna barely notices the temperature dropping until she sees her own puff of breath. Small cracking sounds coming from beneath their feet makes her snap her neck down, noticing the floor freezing over, spreading out from underneath Elsa's bare feet. She looks back up at Elsa as the blonde releases a grunt, letting her head fall on the table, doubled up in pain.

"Elsa!" Anna called out, releasing a gasp when she sees the pale woman bare her teeth. Pearly white and the sharpest set of canines Anna had ever seen.

The pain in Elsa's abdomen evoked a loud guttural groan that made Anna rise from her chair in fear. Dark blond brows furrow and Elsa opens her eyes, icy blue, to look at the frightened redhead. Anna held her hands to her chest, visibly shaking, and the blonde could tell it wasn't from the temperature rapidly decreasing. Elsa tried her best to keep her powers in check but the pain only increased, making her growl in pain, the sound similar to a wild animal.

Reaching out for Elsa with a shaking hand, Anna thought of how she could help her, despite her fear. Part of her believed it wasn't such a good idea yet the bigger part of her told her Elsa wouldn't hurt her. Placing her hand on top of Elsa's shoulder she tried to coax her into sitting back up.

"Elsa..." Her voice was shaky. "How- How can I help? There's got to be a way..." She watched Elsa writhe in pain, rendering Anna helpless. Icy blue eyes met hers, followed by a cold hand and a link forming in her mind. She saw images in her mind's eye, enveloped in a feeling of reassurance. Anna gasped when Elsa's pale hand dropped from her cheek and the pale body slid out of the chair, falling roughly onto the icy surface of the kitchen floor. The redhead threw herself down beside her, knees hitting the ground painfully. She turned Elsa's body around, the blonde's face was red and her breathing was slow. As Anna went through the images sent to her brain she got up quickly, scrambling to the kitchen drawers.

_Oh god, what am I doing? What am I doing? What the _hell_ am I doing?_

Finding the utensil she needed she gazed at herself, seeing fearful turquoise eyes staring back at her from her reflection on the long blade. Another groan made her head turn towards Elsa, her head was resting against one of the lower cupboard doors. The blonde pulled her shirt up to her collarbones, biting the hem of it to keep it up, revealing a pale stomach and chest. Everything Anna had speculated so far had gone down the drain as she dropped down to her knees again, staring at the complex anatomy before her.

Underneath the shirt Elsa wore there was pale skin, but along it there were thin lines, as if her body had been drawn upon. The lines resembled cuts, scars even, due to being at a slightly lower level than the surface of her skin; they were darker, forming an intricate design. Four lines ran along her rib cage, each pair divided apart by an inch of pale skin. They seemed to be open on both sides of her rib cage, resembling gills, but maybe Anna was imagining things. The top line just below where -if she were human- there would be a pair of breasts. Said region was filled with smooth skin instead yet formed a similar structure to female human anatomy. It looked hard to the eye, like bone. Another pair of lines descended vertically from below the ones on her rib cage, together they formed an hourglass shape; meeting another two pairs of slightly tilted smaller ones along her hipbones. Anna was mesmerized at these features, jaw hung open as she stared. Yet what really caught her eye was the detail that stood out the most.

Throughout the length of Elsa's torso there was a line of what seemed to be small crystals gathered together in an uneven fashion. It started slightly above her collarbones and ran down her stomach, growing broader at the middle and thin on both ends, covering where there would be a belly button, had she been human; it ended just above the hem of her shorts. A few of the crystals, very small ones, dotted outside the lines, speckled on her skin like freckles. Another identical line of crystals ran across her chest, the two lines together formed sort of a cross symbol, yet Anna thought of it as a star, possibly due to the way the crystals shined in the light in hues of purple and blue.

Her moment of awe was interrupted when she saw part of Elsa's skin lifting around her abdomen causing her to grunt. The redhead gasped, holding the knife with a shaking hand. Elsa's frigid hand grabbed Anna's, holding the prop in place as she tried to calm Anna through her mind despite the state she was in. It worked a bit, seeing as Anna's breaths were more evened out.

Swallowing down her dry throat Anna hesitated, looking up at Elsa. Sharp fangs held the fabric of her shirt between her teeth, she was sweating and shaking. Another wave of pain made her slam the back of her head on the cupboard, growling loudly.

Anna looked down, seeing skin lifting again.

_Please don't be what I think it is. Please don't be what I think it is. Please don't be what I think it is._

Elsa groaned loudly.

_I got to do this._

She saw how the skin twitched, lifting up higher than before.

_I _have_ to do this._

She felt assurance and commitment flowing from Elsa's hand before it dropped to the floor, knife following its path towards Elsa's stomach.

There was a loud screech, followed by a cracking sound coming from beneath them.

As Anna opened the wound further, slicing the blade down pale skin, she felt like regurgitating her breakfast. She threw the knife across the kitchen once the cut was big enough; she was shaking violently. She looked at her bloody fingers, stained a deep crimson red. From between her fingers her vision focused and she saw something shining, coming from inside Elsa's wound. She sobbed at the sight before her. Elsa on her kitchen floor, bleeding out of the deep gash that Anna had the displeasure of doing. Hot tears streamed down Anna's cheeks, falling fast on the iced floor.

"Elsa..." She cried.

The blonde seemed dazed, her breathing was regaining its normal pace. Her fingers twitched when she felt something moving within her abdomen. Peering down she saw her wound and lifted her hand towards it. Anna sobbed, watching her closely. Both gasped loudly when Elsa plunged her whole hand inside the gash, screaming through bared teeth, eyes shut tightly.

The redhead trembled in horror, unable to avert her eyes from the gore in front of her.

Elsa opened her jaw, screaming in agony. When her hand finally caught what she was looking for she began to pull it out; her other hand grabbing at her stomach hard in an attempt to split the pain. At one point, Anna noticed a white line along Elsa's tongue, she paid no mind at the time.

Then she saw it.

A red coated hand emerged from within Elsa's wound, holding something tightly that was relentlessly trying to stay inside her; six thin wires connecting it to the chamber of where it once hid. Elsa pulled hard, managing to snap two of the wires. She screamed and wailed on the floor feeling her strength leaving her body. Her hand, holding what resembled a metallic looking parasite, grew weak. The robotic critter wriggled in her grip, trying to set itself free. A knife came flying down between the parasite and Elsa's wound, cutting the remaining wires. With the last of her strength Elsa crushed it with a coat of frost.

The ice began dissipating from the room has both of them rested their backs against the cupboards below the sink, the temperature of the kitchen rising again. The sounds of short quick breaths filled the air around them.

Anna looked down at Elsa's stomach, the blonde's fingers were wrapped around the last wire, pulling it out with ease and pressing the skin of her cut together afterwards in an effort to keep it shut. Blood drifted from it across her hip, a small puddle of red formed underneath her. With shaky legs, Anna lifted her torso and swung a leg over Elsa's lap, bending forward over her. Her hands moved towards Elsa's, covered in the blonde's blood, coating them more as she moved Elsa's hands away to keep the wound shut. One of Elsa's hands covered her own and they linked. Ease washed over Anna, calming her senses as the trembling left her body. With her free hand, Elsa began to frost her wound shut with the redhead's help, nails glowing blue underneath red.

Their gazes met.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence Anna spoke, still linked to Elsa.

"That's why you did it." She said with a raspy voice, prompting Elsa to look up at her with tired eyes. "That's why you were in Rapunzel's study... You were looking for something." She swallowed. "Something that-" Anna looked over at the crushed parasite on the floor. "Something that you could take it out of you with."

Elsa nodded weakly, blinking slowly. Her eyes were a deep soft azure again.

The redhead dropped her weight on Elsa's lap, feeling drained. The blonde chuckled, stroking a bloody thumb over Anna's soaked knuckles.

They remained quiet for a moment, foreheads meeting at some point.

A pleasant feeling wrapped itself around Anna's core. Upon recognizing it she smiled.

Gratefulness.

Anna chuckled and shook her head gently, forehead rubbing against Elsa's.

"You're welcome."

* * *

After the incident in the kitchen Anna's morning consisted of helping Elsa into her bed (but not before the blonde disintegrated what was left of the parasite with her ice powers), cleaning the blood from the floor and themselves (thank god none got on the walls) and fixing up Rapunzel's study. In the remainder of her time she paid the blonde some company, seated by her bed with Elsa resting upon it. She would need to find other clothes for Elsa, given the ones she was wearing had dried blood on them. Right now Elsa was her first priority.

Anna found herself looking at the resting figure on her bed, thinking about the differences between themselves. More specifically, their anatomy. The fact that her brain either didn't assimilate or chose to ignore how toned the pale girl was for instance astonished her. It's not like she didn't notice before, quite the contrary. Looking down at Elsa's hand she contemplated about holding it, deciding against it in the end, looking at Elsa's glossy white fingernails instead. They look like opals, Anna mused.

Everything about Elsa was beautiful, she thought. She lowered her head at that notion, bringing a hand to her face.

_I got the hots for an alien. Anna, you useless lesbian._

Images of the gore she had witnessed not a few moments ago invaded her mind unexpectedly, making her stomach twist and turn unpleasantly. Anna did her best to rid of said thoughts. She felt cold fingers on her own and looked up to meet Elsa's gaze, forming a link.

"Feeling better?" Anna asked with a smile, despite the feeling of guilt gnawing at the back of her mind. Elsa's gratitude was almost enough to make her feel better.

Elsa nodded and Anna felt no pain in her stomach, only a pleasant coolness. She leaned forward and stopped, hesitating. She wanted to check on Elsa's wound, the blonde had lost a lot of blood back then. Elsa, feeling Anna's worry through their link, assured her it was alright.

Anna swallowed nervously and sat down closer to Elsa, lifting her shirt up carefully. There was still some frost along the cut yet the skin had healed incredibly fast. Once a deep gash was now a thin red scratch.

The redhead let out a sigh of relief.

_Thank goodness._

Elsa smiled.

Instead of pulling back, Anna's eyes moved to the crystals embedded to Elsa's skin. With sunlight now hitting them directly the shine of the crystals were reflected on Anna's hands. She stared at the colours adorning her fingers and palm; tones of blue, purple and magenta.

"Elsa." She said breathlessly. "This is amazing." Anna smiled widely at her.

The blonde chuckled and smiled back at Anna, her sharp fangs showing. When she noticed the girl staring at her mouth she closed it and averted her gaze.

Anna felt Elsa's disquiet and grew worried.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to stare. I just- You have, uh, really- really nice teeth."

A second passed and Elsa looked at her with a dubious expression.

"Uh, that was awkward. Not you're awkward, I'm awkward. You're gorgeous."

Anna's eyes went wide and she looked down, lifting a brow.

"Wait, what?"

She heard snickering and lifted her head up, seeing Elsa covering her mouth with her other hand, trying to stifle her laughing. The blonde's cheeks were a nice shade of pink.

Both girls ended up in a fit of laughter.

Once it subsided they looked at each other. Elsa stroked Anna's knuckles with her cold thumb, thanking her once more. The redhead relished in both feelings.

"Just promise me that will _never _happen again."

She did.

Anna could live with that.


	5. Cognition

**Author's notes:** Phew, this chapter took longer than I expected, it was a tough one ngl. Not to mention I've been writing more often, probably due to the sudden influx of ideas I had. Writing can be a lot of fun. Also, plot!

P.S: Wow, I'm a big dumb. I totally forgot to thank you guys for all your wonderful reviews! Thank you so much, you guys are the best!

* * *

A beeping sound disrupts a man's sleep, stirring him awake. He rubs his eyes groggily and adjusts his glasses, vision focusing on one of the monitors before him. Whatever he saw, or didn't see, alarmed him enough to rise from his seat quickly and run out the door.

He ran down a long hallway avoiding collision with a few of his co-workers, taking a sharp turn into another hallway. Upon reaching his destination he takes a moment to catch his breath. Before him laid a large steel door with the numbers "00" painted in dark grey on the surface of the metal. He stood close to a small device next to the door and used a key card attached to his lanyard, swiping it on the slit of the device followed by a frantic typing on the keypad; he wiped the building sweat from his brow with his free hand meanwhile. A confirming beep was heard and a lid attached to the top of the device opened, revealing a dark red lens. The man leaned close to it, lifting his glasses up, his eye barely inches from the lens. Another beep later the door opened with a set of clicks and he hurried inside. He looked around the wide dim lighted room, many workers scurried around, some running from computer to computer, others sat at a long white table on the center of the extensive room, trading documents and comments between themselves. Running past the chaos he became more tense, head snapping in every direction.

Amidst the sea of workers he saw who he was looking for. He ran, almost tripping on an empty chair near the table. Slowing his pace he stood behind a tall figure. Said person, a woman, was speaking to someone he didn't recognize.

"S-sir." He stuttered, hoping to catch the attention of the person in front of him.

When the woman turned her head, he gulped audibly, feeling a bead of sweat ran down his forehead.

"What is it, Litwak?" The woman spoke with an authoritative voice that made his knees (and everyone else's in the room) shake.

"Uh, we- uhm. I—"

"Spit it out, man." She snarled, losing her patience.

"Ah— W-we've lost the signal, s-sir."

A bright blue eye widened at the information she had just received. The tall woman turned her head quickly towards the people behind her, dismissing them, and pulled the scrawny man by the collar of his shirt, dragging him to a vacant room and slammed him against the nearest wall on the inside.

"Are you positive about this?" She asked, visibly aggravated by the situation, gripping the collar of his shirt hard.

"Y-yes, sir! I-I saw it. One moment it was there a-and the next it just vanished!" He motioned with shaking hands.

The woman pulled away and walked closer to the desk in the room, bringing a hand to her temple. After a deep sigh she spoke.

"Can you identify its last coordinates?" She asked, turning her head slightly to the side.

The man adjusted his glasses and rubbed the sweat from his forehead, still recovering from his superior's display of rage.

"I-I can try locating it—"

"I'm not asking you to_ try_, Litwak. I'm asking you if you can or can not." The tone of her voice told the man it was more of an order than a question.

He gulped. "I-I can, sir."

"Then I want you to do it and report back to me as soon as you get them. Is that understood?" She turned, her eye leering at the man's fearful ones. When he didn't respond she shouted.

"Is that understood?!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

The woman straightened her back and nodded at the door with her chin. "Dismissed."

The man scurried out of the room, leaving the woman to sit down at her desk, placing a hand over the right side of her face. Feeling the beggining of a headache her fingers reached up and stroked against a hard material covering her right eye.

A moment later she chuckled, a smirk adorning her lips.

* * *

Anna roamed about the kitchen picking up various foods to prepare a meal. Granted she already had breakfast but the food wasn't for her. Balancing the food stacked in her arms she lost balance and fell. The sound was carried onto her room, where Elsa was.

"I'm okay!" She announced, getting back up and collecting the ingredients from the floor with a groan.

Her mind began wandering again while she washed some tomatoes in the sink. She hoped Elsa would like her food. I mean, what's the worse that could happen? She asked herself, shrugging with a grin. She regretted asking herself that when a million thoughts came to her, making Anna's heart drop. Anna took a deep breath to calm herself, thinking like that only made things worse. To get her mind off things she turned on the small television on the counter, letting the low sound of talking fill the kitchen. The news was on. Boring, she thought. Drying her hands on a cloth she reached to change the channel manually.

_"And in other news, we bring you an update on the mysterious light that appeared last night over Arendal."_

Eyes growing wide over the images on the small screen Anna gripped the cloth harder in her hands. The news began showing a low quality video of a light falling from the sky and vanishing below the horizon of the city. It was the same light she had seen yesterday up on the roof.

Once the video had been played in slow motion, along with commentary that Anna didn't pay attention to due to the state of shock she was in, an interview took place. Anna watched as an old man with round shaped glasses and a long white beard spoke with the interviewer.

Thaddeus W. Thatch, astronomer, was read in a line on the lower part of the screen.

_"My fellow colleagues and I have encountered a large concentration of water in one very specific part of the forest, where, as it was speculated, the light has fallen. However, due to the time of the year, most of it dried in the heat, except in one very peculiar crater."_

_"Do you know what fell from the sky then, professor?" _The interviewer asked.

The old man smiled. _"Ice, my dear boy."_

_"Ice?"_

_"Of course. Whereas we still cannot explain this phenomenon it is a well known occurrence. Blocks of ice bigger than you and I have fallen from the sky many times before. I'm very relieved that it did not fall on anyone this time."_ He chuckled.

After the interview, the professor began showing the crater on the ground, mentioning specific measurements and speculating how big the chunk of ice had been. Anna let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and immediately turned off the television. So much for calming down. But this was good, right? They thought it was just a block of ice that fell from the sky!

Anna took a deep breath, exhaling slowly.

_You're fine. Elsa is fine. Everything is _fine_._

Realizing she still hasn't finished preparing some food for Elsa she quickly got back on track, not letting her worry overtake her mind again.

* * *

Elsa laid in Anna's bed, resting (despite not really needing it), complying to Anna's request to "stay put" after she changed into a new set of clothes. Looking down, the blonde pulled her shirt up to see her healing progress. The frost had vanished as well as the scratch. She stroked a hand along her stomach, sighing in relief. At least that was finally out of her system, literally.

Going through what happened in the kitchen made Elsa both tense yet relieved. The first was due to Anna's nature. Having seen into the girl's mind she knew how the girl acted and through their links she could read Anna's questions in her mind. The latter was also for the same reason. Anna was a kind-hearted creature, whether it was luck or fate you knew she was trustworthy. Looking down at her hands Elsa smiled, a warm feeling spreading over her chest.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the soft sound of clattering and she looks up to see Anna walking in, holding a tray of food in each hand.

"I didn't know what you liked so I made sandwiches! And brought some fruit too." She smiled widely.

Elsa returned the smile, bowing her head gratefully.

The redhead sits by Elsa and places a tray on her bedside table and the other between herself and Elsa. The blonde sits up, eyeing the food hungrily. She inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of the food; it only made her hungrier.

"Dig in, I know you're hungry." Anna cajoled.

Elsa eyed the food closer to her and snatched something she was unfamiliar with -a sandwich, Anna called it- from the tray between them, taking a big bite out of it. Anna watched in amusement. Not two seconds later Elsa had finished it and went for another one.

_Wow. I guess that's what travelling across space does to you._

On Elsa's third sandwich she began hitting her chest with her fist, feeling the food slowly descending down her throat rather uncomfortably.

"Hey, easy! We don't want any more casualties!" Anna laughed nervously and quickly handed the tall girl a glass of water. Elsa downed it completely, a deep sigh following.

Anna giggled and shook her head. She watched as Elsa picked up an apple from the other tray and bit into it, chewing slower this time. Anna didn't miss the display of fangs either. The redhead was amused by this as well as curious and a bit sad? She began wondering how long it's been since Elsa has eaten anything, by the looks of it it seemed like the answer was a really long time. Said questioning thought in her head was followed by more, the same ones that have been on her mind ever since Elsa showed up.

After devouring the apple to its core Elsa picked up the last sandwich and ate it with the same hunger as she did with the last three ones, relishing in the flavour. She sucked her fingers clean when the plate was empty and went for the last apple, almost eating it whole. When the red fruit vanished behind sharp teeth not a minute later, she eyed the last fruit in the other tray. Elsa quickly picked it up, opening her jaw to bite into it.

"Wait!" Anna raised her hands.

Elsa stopped and looked at her, raising a brow.

"That's not- hold on." She took the fruit from Elsa's hand and the blonde frowned.

Anna grinned apologetically at the blonde's expression. "Actually, I don't even know why I brought this. Habit, I guess." She shrugged with a sheepish smile.

Elsa kept eyeing the fruit, a pink tongue darted out, licking her lips.

The redhead did her best not to stare at it for too long. "Uh, let me just..." She picked up a knife from the tray, pushing the images of red and pain into the back of her mind, and cut the fruit in half. She put the half with the seed in the tray in front of her, watching Elsa eyeing it. The half in Anna's hand was cut into little squares inside the peel. Proud of her work she finally handed it to Elsa.

"Here."

Elsa took the fruit from Anna's fingers and looked at her expectantly.

"It's not your average fruit but I like eating it, and I hope you like it to. Well, I mean, you liked the sandwiches and there was avocado in them so I figured-" The sound of munching stopped her from rambling further. Elsa had already eaten half of what she had been given, staining a bit of her lips green.

Anna felt a tinge of pride. Or maybe it was a lot of it.

Not much later, Elsa had eaten the whole avocado. After drinking another glass of water, Elsa licked her lips clean and sighed contently, thoroughly satisfied.

"Well, don't you look sated." Anna teased.

Elsa nodded, cheeks slightly pink.

"Four sandwiches. That's a record."

The blonde chuckled and Anna started to giggle. Their gazes fell on each other once it subsided.

Anna was starting to enjoy these moments the most. After several times of, well, Anna didn't really know what it was. Telepathy? Not exactly but she didn't really know what to call it; she felt like she had known Elsa for a very long time, and oddly enough the redhead was really fond of that side-effect of their linking (Anna was calling it that now, she supposed). Communicating with the blonde was an experience of itself. She could feel whatever Elsa was feeling and vice-versa. That mostly likely meant Elsa knew that she was awfully curious (you don't spend a lot of your time "researching" space and aliens for no reason) about the blonde and where she had come from. And those ice powers. Those were _amazing_.

But then, was it even okay to ask?

She had felt so many negative emotions earlier in the kitchen, not to mention what had happened. Anna didn't want to make the other girl feel uncomfortable, not when Elsa was so... alive.

There was also something else Anna felt that she couldn't quite put her finger on. She wasn't sure if it was just another side-effect of linking with Elsa though it didn't actually feel _bad_, per se.

Without linking, Elsa could tell what was going through Anna's mind. She smiled and held up her hand. Anna looked at it with hesitation and met Elsa's eyes again, they were filled with assurance. Swallowing down with determination she held Elsa's hand and let the link form.

Anna breathed out, feeling her body floating in the vastness of her mind. Upon feeling that familiar warmth wrapping around herself she smiled and began stroking the back of Elsa's hand unconsciously. When she opened her eyes, seeing Elsa with a warm smile, she felt the blonde's question, asking her what troubled her mind.

Anna chuckled. "I think you already know that." She sighed. "I mean- There's just so many things I want to ask you. I don't even know where to start or even if I should ask because..." She trailed off, Elsa felt her bother.

"Because even though I don't know what happened to you, I know how you felt. Well, part of it." Anna looked down with a sorrowful expression. "And I don't want you to feel that way ever again."

Within Anna's chest she felt her own heart beating faster, a reflection of Elsa's own. She lifted her head to see Elsa's wide blue eyes. Elsa was deeply touched by this. She doesn't remember how long it's been since she felt this way, since she could trust someone. Feeling Elsa's emotions Anna grew happier as well as more concerned. She wanted to ask what happened but decided against it since Elsa could very well read the question inside her head.

"But, I want you to know that you can trust me, I'll protect you no matter what happens. I promise." She smiled sweetly at Elsa, who squeezed her hand in return. Anna didn't know what the future held for Elsa or herself but she'd be damned if she wasn't going to try and keep the girl safe. She had only met her a few hours ago and they already shared a bond beyond anyone's beliefs. At least anyone on Earth. The redhead was still in awe with all of it yet it still felt so natural. She wondered what it would have been like to grow up in Elsa's planet. With Elsa.

The blonde's other pale hand searched for Anna's and held it, tightening the grip, and thanked her wholeheartedly. Savouring the warm feeling in her chest, Anna's smile grew wider, though she felt a hint of sadness along with the positive feeling. Perhaps due to...

_Oh. Damn it. I thought about... Oh, just bury me._ Anna lowered her head in defeat. She couldn't even keep her mouth shut in her mind.

Their eyes met again and the redhead could see (and feel) the hesitation in Elsa's eyes. Elsa knew the girl had questions of her own but she wasn't sure if she was ready to answer any of them. If she were to be honest, she wanted nothing more but to forget everything and start fresh. A new life. Apparently she'd been given that chance.

Feeling this, Anna understood. "It's alright." She said. "It was really rude of me to be so nosy about it." The redhead chuckled, knowing it was true.

Elsa felt the girl's dejection, it stung her heart bitterly. She sighed and lowered her head, angry at herself.

"Oh, Elsa... you don't have to worry about me, silly." Anna's smile grew brighter. "Listen, if you don't wanna talk about it it's perfectly fine." Elsa was about to protest when Anna stopped her, reading her feelings like an open book.

"But." She paused purposely, shooting Elsa a knowing look. "If you ever feel like sharing anything, whenever that may be, I will be right here." She gazed softly into Elsa's eyes.

The blonde lowered her gaze with a shy smile. Anna bit her lip lightly as her smile grew wider, seeing Elsa smile was awfully contagious. The redhead brushed an invisible strand of hair behind her ear as Elsa toyed with a long strand of her platinum hair, both too demure to hold their now free hands again, though still linked through their other ones.

Anna took in the length of Elsa's hair again, and it was incredibly long. Seeing the waves of platinum blond cascade down her back and pooling behind the blonde's hips, some strands curling up at the ends. It made Anna's fingers twitch. Elsa looked...

She was at a loss for words, for once.

All she wanted to do was brush her hair and braid it. _Oh, she would look amazing with a plait. Not that she doesn't look amazing right now but-_

A warming sensation in her face and chest snapped Anna out of her reverie, realizing what she was doing; she pressed a hand to her burning face. When Anna looked up she saw Elsa's cheeks stained a light red, complementing her alabaster skin. Elsa's pink lips curled into a smile as she nodded. Anna tilted her head in confusion.

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "You mean I can uhm, brush your hair and- 'cause you know, I was talking without thinking... Or well, thinking without thinking. Hah, does that make any sense?" She looked at Elsa, the blonde looked rather amused. "I'll shut up now."

A soft giggle later Elsa nodded reassuringly, letting Anna know through the link as well for good measure.

The redhead sucked in a breath. "Okay, let me go fetch a brush. I think we might be here for a while." She grinned before gently letting go of Elsa's hand, breaking the link. When she rose from the bed she felt like something was missing, paying no mind to it Anna took a few steps towards her vanity and picked up her hair brush. Looking back at Elsa she hurried over, sitting in her previous spot in the bed.

"Okay, turn around please."

Elsa did as Anna asked and sat with her back turned to the freckled girl, posture straight yet tense.

Anna laughed lightly at Elsa's stance. "Relax, I'm just gonna brush your hair and braid it. You know, like mine. Expect, you'll look better with just a single braid. Trust me, I tried two braids on Punzie once, it didn't look as great as I thought." She pursed her lips.

Elsa smiled and relaxed noticeably.

As Anna worked on Elsa's hair she noticed how silky smooth it was to the touch. It also felt oddly cold underneath her fingertips, much like Elsa's hands. She wondered if the blonde was just unnaturally cold. As she worked on a small knot as careful as possible she dismissed her previous thought, remembering how warm Elsa's chest felt.

She meant _inside_ her chest. In her head. Not- Oh, god damn it.

_Thank god we're not linking right now._

They sat in a comfortable silence as Anna brushed the blonde's hair, an easier task than helping her cousin in the morning (four hands aren't enough). After a while she began dividing Elsa's hair to braid it. As Anna started interlacing the blond hair carefully at the back of Elsa's head she noticed the blonde eyeing a picture on Anna's bedside table. Anna paused for a moment to smile before resuming her work.

"Those are my parents."

Elsa turned her head very slightly, looking to her side.

The redhead paused again, now halfway down Elsa's head. "They passed away when I was younger— Is this too tight?" She stroked the plait on the back of Elsa's head. When Elsa shook her head she resumed. "I was very young at the time so I really don't remember much about them." Anna saw as the unfinished braid lifted a bit from her hands, looking up she saw the cause, Elsa had lowered her head.

"Elsa." She touched the blonde's shoulder. "Hey, don't feel sad. They might be gone but I'm pretty sure they're looking down at me from the clouds warning me on where to step." She grinned teasingly and returned to her work, missing the frail look on Elsa's eyes.

Tying the knot with a strand of Elsa's hair on her long braid when Anna was done, the redhead admired her handy work. She thought it was her best work for far. _Sorry, Punz._

Anna got up and motioned Elsa to do the same. As Elsa stood up she felt something tap against her back and she turned her head to look at it. Anna suppressed a giggle and guided the blonde to her vanity mirror. "Take a look."

Elsa approached it and turned sideways, admiring the long plait that hung from her head. Very practical, she thought as she ran her fingers behind it to bring it over her shoulder. As she did this, small snowflakes appeared on her braid like blossoming flowers, varying in shapes and sizes, the largest one stood out on the knot tying the braid. When Elsa's gaze returned to Anna she saw the girl's jaw hung open, making her smile.

A moment passed, their eyes lingering on each other.

"Elsa." Anna finally spoke. "Can I... ask you something? I know I shouldn't but—" A cold hand grabbed Anna's, sending a pleasant shiver down her spine. When their link became stable Elsa looked pensive for a moment before smiling and nodding at Anna.

"Oh, are you sure? I mean, I don't wanna make you feel uncomfortable or anyth—" She was silenced by a cold finger against her lips and another nod.

Anna's cheeks grew a little warmer as Elsa pulled back and grabbed her other hand, holding both in her own cold ones. Anna cleared her throat.

"Alright." She inhaled and bit her lip. Elsa was amused by this involuntary action.

"Can you speak? Because I've heard you laugh-"

_And it's beautiful._

_Oh god, no shut up, she can hear you in your head._

"W-what I mean is, you clearly have a voice so, uh..." Anna was pretty sure her freckles had vanished behind the redness of her face.

Elsa bit her own lip, grinning, watching the poor girl trying to save herself. She responded with an affirmation to free Anna from further embarrassment, but instead of it being in a form of an emotion she let her voice be heard through the link.

_I can._

Anna looked up, surprised. Elsa's laugh was beautiful, a soft melodic tune that soothed her soul, but hearing Elsa speaking, even if it was only inside her head, that was something else entirely. Not to mention Elsa did so incredibly fluently. Her mellow voice made Anna's heart run laps and butterflies erupt in her stomach. She wanted to hear more.

"Then, why don't you?" She said, looking very much like she were in a trance of sorts.

Elsa smiled.

_It is not our way._

"Oh." Anna stared, begging to hear more. She realized she was doing it again and cursed internally. This made Elsa chuckle yet the blonde didn't comment on it.

Anna bit her lip again. Despite wanting to hear Elsa's voice through her vocal chords she didn't want to be... culturally insensitive, she dubbed it — and ruin the moment.

_That does not mean I will not consider the opposite. _Elsa said, warm azure eyes gazing at Anna. The redhead beamed, filled with hope.

"Well, uhm, I like it like this though. Not that through, well, _this_" She waved their held hands around. "—isn't good. It's great, actually! But hearing your voice, it's- it's really nice." She grinned sheepishly.

Elsa nodded.

_Hlenkr._

Anna blinked and tilted her head. The blonde chuckled and waved their hands, mimicking Anna's previous action.

_This. It is called Hlenkr._

"Oh." The redhead bit her lip, the word going through her mind over and over again.

"Hlenkerr." Anna grimaced, it probably sounded horrible. She felt like she had just insulted a whole planet.

The blonde grinned and laughed softly.

_Hlenkr._ Elsa repeated.

"Hlen...kr. Hlenkr." _Okay, that sounded better. I think._

_Good._

Anna smiled proudly.

As they stood there, hands held and gazes locked, Anna's chest grew warmer. She didn't know whether she was feeling her own emotions or Elsa's, or something else entirely. But before she could revel in the feeling a repeated beeping snapped them both out of their thoughts.

"I'm gonna be late!" Anna exclaimed and ran to a corner of her room, leaving Elsa standing there awkwardly.

The blonde shut her eyes, letting out a chuckle. She had a feeling she was going to enjoy this new life far too much.


	6. Inkling

**Author's notes:** Hello, everyone and new readers! Here's an update with an easter egg! Also, sorry about the whole past/present tense thing, it was totally unintentional (still need to correct that, whoops). I also have a tumblr now: frostbug.

And again, I want to thank you all for your amazing reviews, wow! You're cool.

EDIT: Thank you, blind-saint! Fixed that mistake.

* * *

As Anna ran back and forth in her room Elsa sat at the girl's bed, taking in the small space where the redhead inhabited. The girl's room was untidy yet was rather cozy, there was a certain warmth to it that Elsa was attached to, whether it was because it was Anna's or something else she wasn't sure — she didn't dwell on it either.

Anna had managed to find a pair of shorts in the depths of one of her piles of clothes and pulled her working shirt from her closet. Glancing over at Elsa she murmured a "be right back" at the blonde and ran to the bathroom to change. Elsa, now very much used to the redhead's antics, didn't find it the least bit weird, if all, it was amusing. Anna changed quickly and returned to her room, looking for something on her desk.

"Where is it?..." She asked herself. "Aha!" Wrapping her work lanyard around her neck quickly she now began searching for something else.

"Now where did I last put those?..." Anna rubbed her chin in thought. She barely noticed the hand on her shoulder until it was squeezed gently — her eyes met Elsa's inquiring ones.

She smiled sheepishly at her and guided Elsa's hand between her own to form a link, once established Elsa felt the girl's urgency. It was of no use for Anna to explain her behavior to Elsa for the blonde was already up to something. Elsa focused, traveling past Anna's thoughts with ease until...

The blonde moved her head, looking at the bedside table, more specifically, the drawer on it. Anna followed Elsa's line of sight and carefully broke their connection to rush towards it. She opened the drawer and found them there. Her glasses.

With a steady hand she picked them up and looked at Elsa incredulously. The tall woman only grinned.

"Is there anything you can't do?" Anna gaped.

Elsa laughed softly.

Smiling at Elsa's amazing gift she slid her glasses on and picked up her cellphone, shoving it in her pocket as she hurried back to Elsa. The blonde gazed at the odd item resting upon Anna's nose bridge.

"Oh, these are my glasses. They help me see better."

Elsa tilted her head, lifting a perfect brow. Anna chuckled at this.

"My vision isn't that good. Far away at least. Up close I see just fine." She lowered her glasses while still looking at Elsa and pulled them back up to make her point.

The concept was simple enough yet Elsa wondered if something had happened to Anna's eyes or it was simply a normal thing. If she were to be honest, she herself didn't know what was considered normal anymore.

As both stood there, forgetting the fact that Anna was going to be late if she didn't move, the redhead realized she could not leave Elsa by herself.

"Uh," Anna started. "I guess we should go. Both of us. Don't wanna leave you here all alone." She chuckled, playing with her hands nervously.

Understanding Anna's words Elsa did not complain in the slightest, although she was a bit nervous about going out into this new world in broad daylight.

"It'll be okay!" Anna wrapped her hands around Elsa's. "I'll keep an eye on you so you don't have to worry about a thing, okay?"

Soothed by Anna's hands she smiled at the girl and nodded.

"Just, y'know, lay low."

The blonde nodded once more before Anna hurried to the front door, Elsa following.

"Okay, got my phone, keys," She picked them up and opened the front door.

As Elsa stepped onto the porch, she felt a breeze pass by them. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with fresh air. It was warm, warmer than she ever felt. Looking up she saw the light blue sky, bare of clouds. It was beautiful, she thought. Different and beautiful.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her friend's gasping.

"My bicycle!" Anna hurried over to her bike by a small bench on the porch. "You brought it back?" She looked at Elsa with wide eyes.

Before Elsa could react she was almost tackled to the ground. Anna's arms were wrapped tightly around the blonde. "Thank you." Anna said, and Elsa smiled warmly, wrapping her arms around the shorter girl for a moment before Anna pulled back.

"Oh, wow. Hah, sorry. Got a little carried away." She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, cheeks slightly coloured. It was a pretty sight. "Uh, right, we— we gotta go!" Elsa chuckled and watched as Anna brought her bicycle down the stairs with her and sat down on it.

"Hop on!" She grinned at Elsa.

Elsa stepped into the sunlight, the sensation of slight burning on her skin mixed with the soft breeze relaxed her body. She took a deep breath, smiling, before seating herself behind Anna. It was an odd position, considering she was taller and the bicycle could barely fit two.

"Hang on." Anna told her as she pushed past the driveway onto the sidewalk.

Doing as told, Elsa wrapped her arms around Anna's waist. It was pleasant, for both. Especially for Anna whose cheeks might have been a bit redder. And it wasn't just because it was hot outside.

As they rode peacefully down the sidewalk along the suburbs Elsa took in every sight and every scent she came upon. Green sprouted from the earth, it was almost everywhere, the ground, the trees, plants. An unusual colour, but pleasant to the eye. There were not as many flowers as the grass but the ones she saw only made her want to see (and smell) more as she took in their scent from afar. Surrounded by nature were these homes where people lived. They resembled Anna's in their architecture. They too were different and Elsa felt a tinge of nostalgia inside her yet she pushed it aside.

Birds flew past them from above prompting Elsa to look up in awe, hearing their sounds. Anna chuckled at Elsa's child-like wonder. Everything must be so new to her, Anna thought.

Then Elsa saw people. Much like Anna and Rapunzel (and herself) they all had similarities. It was bizarre in a way but it washed away the feeling of unease when she saw that no one payed her mind.

"Hey, mister Cluck!" Anna waved at a plump looking man watering the flowers on his small garden.

"Afternoon, Anna." He waved back with a big smile. "Heading for work?"

"Yup!"

"Well, you don't wanna be late!" He chuckled.

She grinned and waved again. "Bye!"

As they drove past him into a curb Anna told Elsa he was his neighbor. "He's really nice, a friend of my uncle and aunt. His souffle is amazing by the way, you should try it sometime."

Elsa chuckled at Anna's nonchalantness of it all.

* * *

Upon arriving to a small town, Anna and Elsa got off the bicycle and the redhead secured it by a bike rack near a tall building's entry. Elsa stood in place, looking up at the grand structure — it was bigger than the rest of the buildings surrounding it, with a dome covering it neatly.

After closing the lock and testing its security Anna walked towards Elsa and signaled the girl to follow her as they walked past the open doors.

The inside was bright and filled with people. Elsa looked up, noticing the concave shaped ceiling with orbs floating above them. Planets, she thought. As her eyes took in more of the new sights she noticed the same orbs in small divided compartments around the main lobby. A few children passed by Elsa, laughing and running, the blonde stared at them with an expression Anna couldn't really decipher.

Almost dragging Elsa along with her, Anna rushed towards the desk at the center of the lobby where a lean, tall girl stood, leaning against the desk casually. There was an oddly shaped guitar strapped around her back and she had long dark hair that almost reached her feet, the bottom of it tied in a small braid. She pushed back her messy hair, revealing more of her undercut. Anna jumped excitedly and waved at her.

"Marcy!" She called out.

The girl turned around and grinned.

"Hey, red. How's it hanging?"

"Good!" Anna smiled and stopped before the tall girl.

Marceline looked behind Anna at the approaching blonde. "Whoa, who's blondie?" She smirked at Anna, her voice teasing.

Anna pouted, knowing very well what Marceline was implying. "This is Elsa, she's a _friend_." She glared at Marceline for good measure.

The dark-haired girl laughed softly.

"Elsa, this is Marceline."

"Sup." She nodded and Elsa returned the gesture.

"What're you doing here?" Anna asked her friend.

"Waitin' for Bonnie." She said.

"Got a date?" Anna wiggled her brows teasingly.

"Shouldn't you be working?" Marceline smirked back at her.

_Touché._

As if right on cue, a girl with short pink hair and glasses approached them.

"Sorry I'm late. Who knew how heavy projectors could be." She exhaled tiredly.

"Hey, babe." Marceline leaned to plant a kiss on her cheek, wrapping an arm around the girl's waist.

The girl hummed in approval and smiled. She looked over to greet Anna. "Hey, Anna."

"Hey, Bonnie." She smiled at both of them.

"That's Elsa, Anna's _friend_." She smirked at the blushing redhead.

"Oh, nice to meet you." Bonnie waved and Elsa smiled, nodding.

"So, red, you goin' up to Flynn's place this week?"

"Oh, uhh, I'm still thinkin' about it. There's some... stuff, I have to do."

Marceline shrugged and Anna was thankful she didn't press on it.

"Anna, don't you have a shift right now?" Bonnie frowned at the girl.

"Oh god, yeah!" She grabbed Elsa's hand and ran off. A few steps in she stopped for a moment to wave a goodbye at them before dragging Elsa into a small hallway that led to the projection room.

"Oh." She stopped in her tracks thinking, Elsa almost collided against her. "Umm, wait here, I'll be right back." She rushed over to a small counter where a girl with a fiery mane lifted her head to see Anna.

"Ye're late, Anna." The girl drolled, scottish accent heavy on her words.

"I know, I know! I'm sorry!" Anna clapped her hands together and placed them above her bowed head.

The girl sighed and shook her head. "Ye're lucky I covered yer butt. Y'know, as usual."

Anna pouted.

The girl grinned. "The kids 'ave been waitin' for ages. I'm pretty sure one of the teachers wanted my head on a silver platter."

Anna winced. "Actually, about that... Do you think there are any available seats, perhaps?" She grinned hopefully.

"I think so. Why?"

"Well... there's uh, someone that umm..."

The girl moved her head past Anna's to look at a tall blonde that looked really out of place behind a cue of school kids. She didn't look like a teacher either.

"Ohh, I see." She smirked at Anna.

"Why is everyone being so presumptuous today." Anna shot the girl a look.

"Alright, alright. Calm yerself, lass." She smiled apologetically. "Tell ya what, Jim ain't here today so you're in luck. I let you be tardy and bring a stowaway on board. Y'know, sometimes I wonder why I 'aven't been fired yet."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, Merida!" She hugged the girl over the counter.

Merida laughed and shook her head. "Now move it, Summers!"

Anna let go of the girl and ran back to Elsa.

"Okay, so here's the plan—wow, I'm making it sound like a mission or something—so you just walk inside and take a seat, maybe one in the back is the best option, just to be safe. Is that alright with you? I'm sorry, I probably sound crazy right now, don't I? Oh no, this is a bad idea—"

Anna was immediately shushed by a cold finger and a warm smile.

"Right, rambling. Stopping now."

Elsa chuckled and nodded at the girl. Everything will be alright, Anna was pretty sure that's what Elsa's eyes said.

Anna smiled and bit her lip. "Okay, so I'll see you in a minute." As she ran back towards a door at the end of the hallway she looked back at Elsa, worried about leaving her there despite everything. Elsa nodded reassuringly at the girl once more — Anna relented her worry, shutting the door behind her.

It was not long before the double doors ahead of them opened and the cue began to move. The room was big and had a concave shaped ceiling like the lobby, its lights were dimmed. There was a small podium in the middle of the room with an odd looking sphere set upon it. The podium stood two steps higher from the floor, surrounding it were dozens of seats, four rows of them all forming a circle around each row.

Remembering Anna's words Elsa choose a seat in the last row, not too close but not too far away from the children. The blonde began to fidget after a while, feeling very out of place. Where was Anna? Suddenly, she started to feel cold spreading out from her seat — she shut her eyes tightly.

_Control it. She will be here. Don't feel._

_Don't feel._

As if her prayer had been answered the lights began to dim further until she was in the dark. There was a light coming from the center of the room and Elsa caught turquoise eyes staring back at her.

Elsa smiled and Anna nodded at her with a smile of her own. The blonde watched the girl intently as Anna turned on a light and the sphere lit up, illuminating the room with small white dots on the walls and ceiling.

Stars.

"Good afternoon, everyone."

The children greeted Anna back.

Anna chuckled. "Today we will embark on a journey through the solar system. I'm the captain of the ship." She said in a half-teasing tone. "But you may call me Anna." The group of kids giggled.

Throughout Anna's speech Elsa focused on Anna's voice, letting the feeling of unease fade from her body. It also gave her a brief insight to where she was — Earth.

From all that Elsa learned in her younger years never had she come across this galaxy. It was all so bizarre then. Was she really that far away from home? No. That was not her home anymore. Earth was where she stood and where she will stay.

She let Anna's voice ease her mind as she kept listening.

Strange enough, this planet only had one sun and one moon. Odd, she thought. Perhaps she was too used to seeing three moons and two suns. But then again, plant life here was mostly _green_. This train of thought led to past memories she did not want to face, so she pushed them into the back of her mind, locking them away.

Elsa learned that there were also neighboring planets but were uninhabited and uninhabitable, that was strange as well. Every system she knew about had terraformed and colonized various planets. Maybe Earth was still primitive in that technology, Elsa wondered. Though she didn't view it as a bad thing. Everything was... simpler.

Before she realized, Anna's speech had ended with a round of applause followed by Anna asking her audience if they had any questions. Fair enough, there were a few small hands.

"Do aliens exist?"

This caught both Anna and Elsa off guard, Anna especially since she was on the spot. Choosing her words carefully she smiled at the little girl. "Well, the universe is pretty big." She saw Elsa among the crowd. "I'm pretty sure there's bound to be someone out there." Anna smiled at the blonde, Elsa couldn't help but smile back. "But hey, I'm no expert." A few giggles filled the room.

By the time the group of children and their teachers left it was only Anna and Elsa. The tall girl rose from her seat and walked towards Anna, who was fiddling with the light sphere.

"All set." She placed her hands on her hips. "That wasn't so bad." She grinned at Elsa. "You okay?"

Elsa nodded with a smile on her face.

"I guess now you know a bit about where you are." Anna chuckled, rubbing her arm.

The blonde held her smile before it gradually faded, her brows furrowing — Anna noted it as a bad thing.

The redhead cleared her throat then. "Well, I'm done for today. Guess we can go home now." She offered her hand to Elsa whom took it without hesitation.

* * *

The ride back home was quiet with Elsa leaning on Anna for comfort — the latter didn't object.

Once home Anna began to pace around muttering to herself. Rapunzel wasn't home yet, which gave her some time to organize her thoughts, and they were a mess.

She desperately needed to convince her cousin to let Elsa stay for a few days. Of course, "a few days" meant "possibly forever". More lies, she thought while shaking her head. But what else could she do?

A beeping coming from her pocket snapped her out of her thoughts. Retrieving her cellphone Anna saw a text from her cousin.

_"You home yet? Got a surprise! I'll be home by 8. :D"_

Despite Anna's curiosity she snorted.

_Compared to me harboring an alien at our place? I doubt it, Punz._

Anna released a sigh as she slumped down in her bed, hands over her face. Elsa took a seat next to her. Anna's distress was palpable even without linking. She couldn't blame the poor girl though, Elsa was the cause of it. And it wasn't just for the fact that Elsa was there, she knew Anna was still a bit shaken up about the incident in the kitchen. A familiar sense of guilt settled itself in the pit of Elsa's stomach.

As if sensing Elsa's trouble Anna sat up, looking at the blonde. "Hey." She called out, placing a hand gently on Elsa's shoulder. "Don't worry, Elsa. I'll think of something." She smiled at Elsa a bit forcefully. The blonde smiled back, albeit sadly.

A few hours was plenty of time to come up with something, right?

* * *

During lunch Elsa ate more composedly and Anna taught her how to use the utensils.

In the afternoon they sat in the shade of the backyard and Elsa took in every detail of the few flowers that grew there, Pascal always on the blonde's shoulder.

From then until the sun began to set they spent hours linking.

Anna felt the way Elsa's heartbeat sped up when she listened to music for the first time. She saw a world growing inside the blonde's head when Elsa learned how to read. She noticed how when Elsa smiles it's a little lopsided and it's the most beautiful thing Anna had ever seen.

While Anna taught Elsa about every single thing she could come up with about her planet Elsa listened intently, relishing in every detail. It made her forget. It made her feel safe — at home.

Through the link Anna could feel a tinge of anxiety coming from the blonde, even though she knew Elsa was doing her best to push it back — every time Anna would try to coax Elsa into letting it out Elsa would create a barrier between them, guilt following it. Anna didn't press it, she knew Elsa needed time to adjust. Time will heal, Anna thought, whatever it may be. Whether she meant to tell Elsa this through the link or not, Elsa couldn't help but smile, if only a little.

If Anna were to be honest, she was happy being the one to show Elsa the world without anything in return. Elsa's presence was more than enough.

Eventually, night time came and Rapunzel with it.

The moment her cousin walked through that door Anna's nerves fled away momentarily for her cousin's surprise was...

Well, Anna didn't expect _this_, that's for sure.

Her cousin looked the same. Cheery smile, positive attitude, bright eyes. Yet something was amiss, and it wasn't hard to spot.

"You cut your _HAIR_?" Anna almost screamed. She wasn't mad. Far from it. Now, don't get her wrong, Anna loved Rapunzel's blond hair, but seeing her now made her relive her old days when they were little.

Her cousin's hair was now short and lovely shade of brown—her natural colour—and it was incredibly charming.

Now there were two girls screaming and jumping in the hallway while Elsa and Pascal opted to stay away from it.

Dinner was avid and less awkward than that morning. Of course, there was some tension after eating when Anna pulled Rapunzel into the living room.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" The brunette asked.

"Umm," Anna sighed. "Rapunzel... Would it be okay if Elsa stayed with us for a while? She has some... problems, at home, and uh, yeah." It was not as planned as Anna thought, but it was worth a shot, or so she thought.

"Of course, she's welcome to stay as long as she likes."

_Does that include possibly forever?_ Anna wanted to ask.

"But is she alright?" Her cousin was honestly the most thoughtful person Anna knew. "Does she need anything?" She was so selfless it hurt.

"Yeah, yeah. She's— she's alright. All she needs is some shelter, really." Well, that wasn't far from the truth.

Rapunzel smiled then. "Glad we could help."

"Hmm, we should probably clean up the attic then. It's the only guest room we have. If we can even call it that." Rapunzel crossed her arms, pursing her lips in thought. Anna nodded.

"What about her belongings? Did she bring any?"

Anna's eyes grew wide. Now what could she say to save herself?

"Uh— no. She doesn't— didn't, bring anything."

_Nice save, Summers._

"Do you think it's possible to get them?" Rapunzel spoke with such a carefulness that it made Anna just want to blurt everything out and apologize profusely for lying to her.

"Uhh, m-maybe. I don't know..." She needed to work on that too. After all, Elsa didn't have any clothes of her own, besides her cloak. Not your ideal summer wear. Or any wear, if she were to just wear _only_ that.

Anna was totally not thinking about smooth white skin.

She heard Rapunzel sigh. "Well, don't worry about it." The brunette smiled. "Let's go clean up the attic for our guest." She said cheerfully, Anna wanted to punch herself again.

"Yeah." Anna smiled as best as she could.

The attic was Anna's and Rapunzel's haven. It was old with creaky wooden floors but it was warm and full of memories. The first few weeks at their new house both girls spent countless hours up there rather than in their separate rooms unpacking their belongings. At night they would crawl up onto the roof and just like that they were kids again, looking up at the stars. Later Rapunzel would half-drag her sleepy cousin to bed, some things never changed.

Now they barely did that, if ever. Rapunzel was swamped with work and every time she would get some free time she would spent it elsewhere. It was sad sometimes but Anna never let it get to her. Though she did often miss the old days. It was hard to let it go.

Once the attic was suitable for their guest and Rapunzel had retired to bed, Anna led Elsa upstairs into her new room. Elsa hit her head on the ceiling and Anna muttered something about Elsa being incredibly tall (or the ceiling being too small) while rubbing the slightly sore spot on the top of the blonde's head. It was okay to stand, if it was in the middle of the room, on the sides, well, that was a different story. Elsa didn't complain, and if she did, it wasn't vocally.

"Do you like it?" Anna asked her.

Elsa nodded. It will do.

There was a moment of silence with their eyes locked in each other. After a while, Anna broke it.

"Do you sleep?"

The expression that settled over Elsa's features was unsettling, Anna wanted nothing more but to comfort the tall girl.

Like any other creature, Elsa did sleep. The problem was she didn't want to.

She didn't sleep the night she met Anna and she didn't want to sleep ever again. The thought was inane but she didn't want to shut her eyes just so she could be haunted by those cold blue—

A pair of arms snaked around her waist and soft weight settled against her shoulder.

"It's okay." Elsa heard. "I'm here."

Anna didn't know what plagued Elsa's mind but she did her best to console her. "Do you want me to stay up with you?"

Elsa shook her head while wrapping her arms around Anna, savoring the warmth of the girl's skin.

"Are you sure?" Anna asked, smiling against Elsa's shoulder. The blonde nodded.

"Alright then." Anna pulled back and yawned into her hand. "Well, call me if you need anything, okay?"

Elsa nodded, letting go of Anna's hands reluctantly.

"Good night, Elsa. Sleep well."

Elsa hoped she would.

* * *

**Bykle, Norway - 11:43PM**

A helicopter landed upon the rough plains of the mountains. One of its passengers, a tall young man, jumped down and helped another passenger out with a bow of his head and his hand stretched out, covered by a long glove.

The other person, a short old man, took his hand and showed no sign of gratitude as he stepped down onto the ground. They approached a soldier dressed in a dark military getup on the field who saluted them.

"Report."

"We have found what appears to be an escape pod, sir. We are retrieving every piece as we speak."

"Any survivors?"

"None, sir. There were no bodies."

A silence settled between them before the old man spoke. "Do you think they were here?"

"Unlikely." The young man behind them stated.

"What makes you so sure?" The old man leered at him.

"Just a hunch." He tugged on his gloves, a smirk laced on his lips.

The old man scowled and turned back to the grunt, ready to fire orders.

"I want a full report on my desk by tomorrow morning. And should you find any bodies you are to contact me as soon as you get a glimpse of it, do you understand?"

The soldier gulped audibly and nodded. "Y-yes, sir." He saluted again before marching off into the field.

"I love it when you almost make them piss their pants. It's one of the joys of this job."

The old man walked past him, ignoring his witty remarks.


End file.
